A few weeks ago I mentioned the document, Called to be One - what now? ; an account of a conference held last November. Many of the people who attended were involved in the publication of a document, Called to be One, in 1996. Re-reading this 15 years later, it seems both fresh and dated at the same time.
Much of it is still current today and yet things are very different. The main difference is a loss of confidence in the ecumenical movement in England. The people who organised and attended the November 2009 conference can easily be dismissed as an older generation, out of touch with the painful realities of the present day. I think the reality is more complex.
Called to be One was written at the height of ecumenical popularity, only 10 years after the Not Strangers but Pilgrims Interchurch Process. Does this report aim to drag us back to a past superseded or does it invite us to remember the foundation principles of the Interchurch Process?
Over the next few posts, I will examine each of their critical issues to highlight the changes over the last 15 years.
Their title for the first critical issue is ‘Effortless superiority’ and ‘I have no need of you’ . This is about power and what it means when stronger and weaker churches work side by side. They offer as examples, (1) the effortless superiority of the Church of England clergy as experienced by Methodists, (2) the experience of black minority churches when white churches work together and exhibit 'group think' and (3) the Global Christian Forum , where efforts have been made to level the playing field between stronger and weaker churches.
There will always be inequalities of power. The question is, how do we in out conversations handle these, so the weak are not disadvantaged by the powerful? Obviously, size and power do not always mean a particular institution is right. More likely God's call to the churches points to universal change.
A recent example has been the debate following the President of Methodist Conference's address to the General Synod of the Church of England. Why do some assume unity means one party going out of existence? The call is for all to be transformed. If we assume unity means the weak being absorbed by the strong, we are perpetuating the reasons we have divisions in the first place.
The call the churches are hearing through the ecumenical movement is towards a new way of exercising authority. This was what people were saying during Not Strangers but Pilgrims and they are still saying it today. There is impatience with the power games of the powerful.
An authoritarian ecumenism would result in more divisions. Christians will never submit to a single authority. We need therefore to discern where the spirit is leading us. My fear is many people have already made their decision and left the traditional churches for the new churches. They will find the same problems wherever they go. What we are seeking is a new way of being church, which allows reconciliation between the traditions and solidarity across them.
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